Arznek

First of here's a visibility question
My friends and I purchased Firebird Commanders to start in newbie combat, however these little white birds are hard to see! Whats a good way to brighten these foam winged planes?

Second HAM freqs.
I just got my ham license and I'd like to run an off frequency so I never have to worry about messing up someone elses bird at the field. Has anyone had any experience with 50Mhz transmitters/recievers?

bpannier

Put some floresent red, paint or Monacote. Caution on the paint some will eat the foam.
Have flown on 50 & 53 for 25 years, works fine but all my buddies are there also. Selling a radio is a lot harder if it is on these frequencies as they can only be sold to another ham.

Arznek

bpannier - I'm a bit scared about spray paint, so I guess i'll have to get some low heat monokote.

Obviously you can't just switch the crystals out of a 27 or 72Mhz radio, so where can you pick up one in the 50Mhz range?

73 - KC8ZZZ
(last KC8 call!!!)

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

As he said, from another HAM, or you need to special order it. Any hobby shop should be able to do that for you, local or online.

iflyj3

My Feedback: (7)

This used to be very true. However, eBay and the easy FCC ticket have removed that problem. Actually the ham rigs bring the same and sometimes more than the 72 MHz stuff.

Co Fly

I just use colored packing tape on the bottom of the wing.

Arznek

I just came up with a little visibility rig.. i didn't have colored tape like Co Fly uses, but I did have an extra sticker pack from a Foam plane I bought at walmart. They're the perfect size for the wing and VERY BRIGHT!

bpannier

yOU ARE CORRECT ON NOT JUST CHANGING THE CRYSTAL. tHE RADIO MUST HAVE A NEW MODULE. THIS IS NOT THE CASE ON THE LOW END RADIOS AS THEY HAVE NO MODULE

dockman2

What radios are you guys talking about not being able to change the crystals on?

Every 27, 72, and 75mhz radio I have you can swap out the crystals. We do it all the time.

Vulturetec

The last two 50mhz radios I bought were directly from Tower, nothing special (just specified the channel). My Dad ordered a JR on 50mhz, same deal - just specified the freq he wanted.

Vulturetec

Between a 50/53Mhz radio and a 72Mhz radio. The receivers and antennas aren't designed to cover that broad a frequency shift. I've never looked into it, but I would think its possible to swap the RF-decks between a 50mhz transmitter and a 72mhz transmitter because the RF deck (module) should have all the critical components on it, leaving just the antenna as a question mark.

iflyj3

My Feedback: (7)

The antenna is not a problem as most radios use the same one for 50/53 and 72 MHz. I have ACE MP8000's on 50, 53 and 72 that use the same antenna. For my Futaba 9C I swap the RF modules between 50 and 72 MHz and use the same antenna.

Your mileage may vary!

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

It's against FCC regulations. You can swap crystals, and the FCC Crystal Police aren't going to jump out of the bushes and pounce on you, but you need to be aware that changing the crystal changes the tuning on the transmitter. YOUR setup may work fine, but it may be off just enough to bleed into adjacent channels and shoot someone else down. Unless the radio is a module type that has the RF deck and crystal in a removeable module, you're supposed to have a licensed professional changed the crystal and retune the radio.

This is per the FCC's and AMA's interpretation of the FCC Part 95.